Jason Botchford: Desjardins' loyalty to Canucks 'leaders' backfires in a big way

It is a cruel twist of fate, but it was the veteran players who let Willie Desjardins down this season.

Ironic then, the Vancouver Canucks he was most fiercely loyal to are the same ones who will inevitably cost the man his National Hockey League coaching job.

The cornerstone of Desjardins’ program in Vancouver has been his unwavering devotion to the players with the most experience, the so-called leaders. At its most simplistic, the motivation is easy to understand. Keep the old guys happy, keep the locker-room on side.

It helps explain why the Sedins were never split up, why Brandon Sutter played far more than he could reasonably handle, why Luca Sbisa has led the Canucks in ice time for the past 65 games, and why Desjardins and his staff displayed zero willingness to change an awful power play, choosing instead to roll out Sutter with the twins like this combination was legislated in the collective bargaining agreement.

Willie Desjardins made his young players ‘earn it,’ which has been successful in the past. This year? Not so much.

You better believe this, if Erik Gudbranson were healthy he would have also been given Desjardins’ benefit of the doubt. He would have been playing and it would have been one of the so-called kids sitting, that kid likely being Nikita Tyramkin.

All of this worked for Desjardins, until it didn’t.

Since Jan. 21, a 33-game stretch, the Canucks have been the worst team in the league. In this slide to 29th, they have had the fewest wins, points, shots and goals. Their 19 points in those 33 games is a 47-point pace over an 82-game schedule.

Over the course of this season, some in the media have accused the bench boss of unreasonable stubbornness, and suggested it hurt his team, an allegation he responded to late in the season with real passion.

Desjardins pointed out he has had success making young players “earn it.” He isn’t wrong.

But there is a flip side to this, a cold, unforgiving flip side.

While Desjardins may have been doing right by some of the kids’ development, he was leaning too heavily on his vets, and they flopped.

But in a season that will go down as one of the Canucks’ worst, Desjardins had wins and losses among his players.

Here we break down the top three in each category:

WINS

Bo Horvat had to earn his expanded role, and he responded well to the challenge.

1. Bo Horvat

There is no player Desjardins had more success with, and you can understand why when you see they are two men cut from the same cloth.

Horvat is driven by the motivation to do the right thing on the ice, rooted with a strong defensive conscience.

He lives and breathes the sport, and works diligently to get better. All of this plays well with Desjardins, even if it didn’t get Horvat any breaks. He earned every inch he got, and that process with Willie for three years made him a better player.

The Canucks’ 21-year-old centre couldn’t believe it when he saw the opening night lineup and he was centring the fourth line. Even that move paid off for Desjardins, because Horvat used it as a motivator this season, again trying to prove people wrong.

Say this for Desjardins, with Horvat he pushed all the right buttons.

Sven Baertschi reacted to an early healthy scratch to his most productive run with the Canucks.Gerry Kahrmann /
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2. Sven Baertschi

Turns out, Baertschi is one fiery player.

There were times last season when he was left throwing things, put off he wasn’t in Desjardins’ lineup. The head coach was as hard on Baertschi as he’s been on anyone.

He was also incredibly patient when he needed to be, like the first half of last season when he stuck with the Horvat-Baertschi duo even though they weren’t producing.

Even near the start of this season, Desjardins made Baertschi a healthy scratch and what followed was his most productive run of the season.

It hardly matters whose idea it was to play Granlund in the top six — something the Canucks came up with during the summer — Desjardins is going to get the credit.

Lost as a fourth-line centre, Granlund was reborn as a top-six winger this season. Even with a bad wrist he was the Canucks’ most dangerous goal scorer.

LOSSES

Brandon Sutter failed to find the net much on the power play despite playing a ton of minutes on a line with the Sedins.

1. BRANDON SUTTER

Yes, he scored 17 goals, but just four on the power play, where he produced seven points on the season.

His 2.17 points-per-60 minutes played on the power play ranked 181st of 193 forwards who were regular contributors on NHL power-play units.

The 18:48 minutes-per-game he played were nearly a full two minutes above his career average. The results weren’t good.

The Canucks controlled just 44.1 per cent of the unblocked shot attempts when he was on the ice at even strength, and that ranked 251 of the 253 players who have logged 1,000 minutes.

It just crushed the Canucks, and in turn Desjardins’ team.

Luca Sbisa knows his days as a Vancouver Canuck may be numbered with the expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights entering the NHL and picking unprotected players from existing teams.

2. LUCA SBISA

It’s almost amazing to read, but Sbisa leads the team in total minutes played since mid-November. He did look fine early in the season but he was in a third-pairing role.

When injuries cropped up, Desjardins’ unwillingness to play better defenceman more than Sbisa cost him.

The Canucks controlled just 44.4 per cent of the unblocked shot attempts when Sbisa was on the ice at even strength and that ranks right with Sutter at the bottom of the league.

It meant the Canucks were pinned way too often during Sbisa shifts.

Hall of famers for their careers, the Sedins were too poor on the power play and were overworked this season.Handout

3. THE SEDINS

They are the leaders, hall of famers and the two Canucks who represent a generation. They were also poor on the power play and played too many minutes.

The Sedins’ offence started collapsing in November and by March they had nothing left to help prop up an injury-riddled team.

What really burned Desjardins, however, was his insistence on playing defensive-minded wingers, such as Michael Chaput and Jayson Megna, with the Sedins. It essentially vaporized the Canucks’ two best players.

Their point totals dipped to levels we haven’t seen in 12 years, but a big part of that was a power play that did little all season.

Why did Desjardins insist on keeping Sutter with them for those man-advantage shifts?

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Jason Botchford: Desjardins' loyalty to Canucks 'leaders' backfires in a big way